THE Goa Government will soon bar domicile Goans from entering casinos to gamble, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on the floor of the House on Wednesday.

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Sawant was replying to demands made by MLAs — of both ruling and opposition parties — who pointed that Goan families are suffering with huge amounts of debt with savings lost in gambling.

“Let’s fix a date after which no Goans will be allowed to enter these casinos to gamble. Let’s all meet on this issue and figure the road ahead. Casinos should be only for tourists. This will also be a good way to ensure we think of the well-being of Goans,” Sawant said replying to all the MLAs.

Once implemented this rule would mean only tourists will be allowed to gamble in both offshore and on shore casinos. A separate proposal is being explored to shift casinos out of Mandovi river and take them inside the airport arena — in the new airport that is being planned in north Goa.

This though is not the first time the government has accepted the proposal of banning casinos for locals, a demand made for years by civil society.